As far as I can see I am only missing two short ones: East End and 13th Avenues, the really big one (which is strictly seen not an avenue): Broadway, and Sixth Avenue!

Officially Sixth Ave does not exist anymore it was officially renamed Avenue of the Americas in 1945. This "new" name is, however, hardly used. One would only see it on buildings, Sixth Avenue is, of course, much easier to pronounce and remember. The section north of Central Park had already been renamed Lenox Avenue in 1887 after the 19th century philanthropist James Lenoxand it was co-named Malcolm-X Boulevard after Malcolm Little (also know as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) the human right activist that was assassinated in Harlem in 1965.

Bryant Park, W42nd Street

Finally, there is an unofficial part of the avenue that crosses through Central Park, the East Drive.

Sixth Ave originally terminated at Carmine Street in Greenwich Village, but was extended in the early 1900s to facilitate better access to southern Manhattan and the Holland Tunnel. This was quite a dramatic and impacting activity, ten thousands of residents of the affected area, had to move, and even a whole church was demolished to provide space for the avenue.

In 1878 a "dark" era commenced for Sixth with the construction of the Sixth Avenue Elevated (railroad) which blocked all the sunlight and decreased the value of the avenue. When the "el" was removed 50 years later the avenue started growing, bit-by-bit, into the nice avenue which we know nowadays. Sixth still has a lot of public transport, the four orange subway lines of the IND Sixth Avenue Line as well as the other subway of New York, the PATH train run below its surface.

Near W120th Street

In the sixties the part north of 42nd Street started getting many skyscrapers for corporate offices, a recent addition to this collection is the 366-meter (1200 ft) high Bank of America Tower at 42nd Street.

Sixth starts a bit strange with a diagonal North-West movement. Only after W4th Street the avenue picks up its straight line parallel to the other avenues. The first section is in the pleasant atmosphere of SoHo and Greenwich Village. Around 18th Street, in the Ladies' Mile Historic District are many old warehouses. These once luxury warehouses had been vacant for a long time, and almost be demolished. As per the 1990s they are in use again, now shared by many independent businesses.

Another curiosity which eventually took the same course of being shared is at 20th Street, the Limelight Shopping Mall.

W124th Street

It was once a church, then a very obscure drug-infested night club, and now a neat little shopping mall. See also this blog.

The Central Park section is just a nice stroll through the park. Lenox Avenue (Malcolm X Blvd) shows a completely different character of the avenue. It is broader, two-way traffic, has less business and no skyscrapers. That does not mean it is less interesting. Really beautiful Harlem brownstone houses and impressive churches are flanking the avenue. Unfortunately, like many sites in Harlem, there are also still many building that are on the verge of collapsing, being burnt or abandoned.

"Sixth" / Lenox Avenue ends at 147th street in a dull and ugly MTA lot. Fortunately the many miles before that made up for this ugly end!